Hermione's Visit
by vellagirl
Summary: Missing moment from HalfBlood Prince. Hermione visits Ron in the hospital wing.


**Hermione's Visit**

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and every other brilliant thing in the series.

A/N: So, you can see how obsessive I am that I got this written so fast, but this has been on my mind since I read it and I wanted to share it with you. Basically it is a missing scene. Hermione visits Ron in the hospital wing after he is poisoned. I hope you like it!

Hermione trekked down the long, dark corridor, unconsciously flattening any wrinkles in her skirt and twirling a stray curl around her finer in attempts to make it less frizzy. Harry had been down to the Hospital Wing to see Ron on his morning break and informed Hermione that Ron was finally conscious. Hermione debated with herself on whether or not she should pay Ron a visit later that day, but finally decided that she really needed to make up with him. As angry and as hurt as she had been--Hermione had_ i never /i _ hated Ron and the thought that he had almost died tore her heart apart. i _What if he had died and she hadn't spoken to him in months? i/ _ The idea was just too painful.

The walk seemed longer than usual as Hermione ran through different things she planned to say to Ron. Nothing she thought of sounded good and with a desperate sigh she turned the corner bumping right into Lavender Brown. Hermione stepped back uncomfortably for a moment before fixing her posture in an intimidating sort of way.

"Oh! Hi, Hermione," Said Lavender with mock kindness.

"Lavender," Said Hermione shortly, not bothering to hide the disdain in her tone. Lavender clearly picked up on Hermione's speech pattern and quickly changed tact.

"I suppose your going to see Ron?" She asked acidly.

Hermione raised an eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest. "Yes, I am."

Lavender glared back at her. "Well, I wouldn't bother—he's asleep."

Hermione felt disappointed for a moment. She was really counting on talking to Ron. "I still want to see him," Hermione retorted. Not waiting for a response from Lavender, Hermione walked briskly past her and stepped into the Hospital Wing.

The room was lit brightly from the warm sunlight flooding in through the windows and it smelled faintly of essence of Rue and chamomile tea. Hermione peaked around the corner and side stepped a hospital bed before laying eyes on Ron who looked anything but asleep. In fact, the tall red-head was sitting up, hunched over a chess board, and concentrating hard on his next move he would use against the opposing pieces he had enchanted to play against him.

Hermione smirked. She was nearly six feet away from him and he still hadn't noticed her presence.

"Need a partner?" She inquired and immediately blushed. i _What a stupid thing to say? i/ _ She scolded herself. Ron jerked his head up in her direction; his legs flinched with surprise and his chess pieces toppled over.

"Hermione! Hi!" He said, blushing and putting the chess bored aside. "How are you?" He asked uncertainly. Hermione knew he was probably surprised to see that she was actually talking to him.

"I'm well…how are you feeling?" She asked kindly.

"Much better," he answered. Then there was an awkward silence. Hermione shifted uncomfortably.

"erm…I ran into Lavender on the way here…"—Ron suddenly looked worried, "She told me you were asleep…" Hermione made sure her tone was clearly doubtful. She knew Ron hadn't suddenly woken up and started playing chess. He had probably been up since Harry saw him, heard Lavender calling 'Won, Won' and pretended to be asleep until she left. Ron caught on and knew there was no lying to Hermione.

"Yeah, well, I didn't really feel like talking to her," he said miserably. Hermione felt a mix of hope and uncertainty. Hope, because Ron didn't seem happy with Lavender and uncertain, because maybe he didn't feel like talking to her either.

"Do you feel like talking to me?" Hermione asked nervously. Ron shifted in his bed, giving Hermione his full attention. "Sure, what about?"

Hermione smiled faintly as she grabbed a wooden chair and pulled it up beside Ron's bed. She took in a long, deep breath before speaking again.

"It's just—well—I wanted to say that…I'm sorry—you know, for the canaries."

"Oh," sighed Ron, looking away. "Well, I'm sorry too."—but he didn't say what for. Hermione knew that was expecting too much from him. There was another long, uncomfortable silence where neither of them looked directly at each other. Finally, Ron spoke.

"So how're you and McLaggen?" He asked casually.

Hermione perked up, her eyes slightly wide. Ron must have really been convinced. She inwardly patted herself on the back for a good performance.

"McLaggen? There wasn't ever anything between us—not anything serious," She explained with a light blush. Ron tried to hide a smile by turning away.

"How're you and Lavender?" Hermione thought it only polite to return the question. However, she really didn't want to know unless it was bad. To Hermione's delight, however, Ron frowned.

"We're okay, I guess," he muttered. Hermione nodded in response, trying hard to conceal her glee.

"So," she said. "Were friends again?"

"Just friends?" asked Ron. "Yeah, of course."

Hermione smiled at him before standing. "Well, I better get going…Ancient Runes…"

Ron said goodbye and as Hermione turned and started to leave, she felt there was more that needed to be said to Ron. She stopped suddenly and turned back around.

"Oh! And Ron," she said, gaining back his attention. "I asked Cormac to the party with me because I was mad at you….I asked you to the party because I really wanted you to go with me…" She stared at him for a moment, offering him response time, but when she received non she turned once again, this time leaving the hospital wing; hoping that she had given him enough hints and signs of her attraction that he would finally make some moves of his own. i _Just give him time /i ,_ Hermione thought. _ i Lavender won't last much longer /i . _


End file.
